Reversible ratchet wrench



March 31, 1931. J. H, DODGE 1,798,194

REVERS IBLE RATCHET WRENCH Filed July 27, 1929 Q John H. Dodge Ai'fys.

Patented Mar. 31, 1931 units s'r TEs PATIENT OFFICE,

JOHN H. DODGE, or wononsrnn, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSrGNon ro'LoUIS 0. SMITH, or NEWTON, MASSACHUSETTS; HARRY n. SINCLAIR AND JOHN H. DODGE, BOTH or WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, .AS'TRUSTEES 'REVERSIBLE RAT GHET WRENCH Application filed. July 27, 1929. Serial No. 381,430.

This invention relates to reversible ratchet wrenches and has for one of its objects to provide a novel construction by which when the wrench is reversed from a right hand wrench to a left hand wrench or vice versa,

the active pawl will be thrown out of. engagement with the socketmember before the other pawl is permitted to come into engagement so that at no time can there be more than one pawl in looking engagement with the socket.

The two pawls are controlled or operated by a shipper lever as usual in reversible ratchet wrenches and another object of the invention is to provide a novel construction of shipper lever and pawlby which the active pawl is thrown out of engagement with the socket member during. the-first half of the swinging movement of the shipper lever and is held out of engagement during the final half of said movement while the inactive pawl will be held in inoperative position out of engagement with the socket member during the first half of the swinging movement of the shipper lever and will be allowed to move into engagement with the after set forth.

In Order to give an understanding of the invention I have illustrated inthe drawings a selected embodiment thereof which will now be described after which the novel features will be pointed out in the appended claims.

Fig. 1 is a view of a reversible ratchet wrench embodying my invention with a portion of the handle broken out and with the cover plate for the 'pawlsandshipper lever removed; 1 a

Fig. 2 is a view of the head portion of the wrench with the cover plate in place s Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3, Fig. "2;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view illustrating the position of the pawls when the shipper lever is in mid position;

.Fig. 5,is.a perspective view of the inside face of the cover plate.

The wrench comprises the usual handle member 1 which terminates at one end in a head 2 in which is rotatablymounted a socket member 3 having a square or flat-sided socket portion 4 to fit over the head of a bolt or over a nut. r

This socket member is provided with the usual flange portion 5 to engage one sideof the head 2 and is also'provided with the neck portion 6 which extends through the head and on which is removably secured'a retaining collar 7 said collar being held inplace by the usualsetscrews8. I I f The socket member is formed'onits periphery with the notches 9 forming'between them the teeth 10 and the head is provided with the usual pivoted pawls 11 and 12 which are adapted to engage in the notches 9 there-v by providing a ratchet connection between the socket memberand the head.

Each pawl is provided with a circular head 13 which fits in a correspondingly shaped recess or seat 14: formed in the wrench head 2, thisconstructionproviding a sturdy pivotal connection between the pawls and the wrench head which will stand up under severe usage.

Each pawl operates in a recess 15 formed in the wrench head and is backedby a spring 16 which tends to throw it into operative position in engagement with the socket member.

. The pawlsarecontrolled by a-shipper lever 17 which is pivotally mountedon a boss18 formed on the wrench head, Said shipper lever being adapted by its swinging movement from one extreme position 'to the other to throw one or the Other'of the pawls into inoperative position depending on whether the .wrench is to be. usedas a left handratchet wrench or as a right hand ratchet wrench.

The .parts thus far described, with theexception of the particular shape of the shipper lever 17 and pawls 11, 12are or may besuch as is commonly found in reversible ratchet wrenches. Y j As stated above onefeature of the present invention relates to the construction of the shipper lever 17 and pawls by which during the initial movement of the shipper lever from either extreme position the active pawl will be moved into inoperative position out of engagement with. the ratchet member while the inactive pawl is retained in 'itsinoperative position, and during the final swinging "movement of said shipper-lever the formerly 'ina'ctivepawl' is *allowed'to move into operative engagement with the socket member while the formerly active pawl is retained in its inoperative position.

Each pawl is formed on its inner face with the forwardly and outwardly inclinedface '19 which terminatesata. high point .21- where it meets another finclined face .20. The face v19 inclines forwardly away from thepivot end .and. outwardly relative tothe longitudinal medianline of the pawl. The .face 20 is in- ..clined from the :high point21 away from the pivotal point of thepawland toward thelonigitudin al'v median .fline thereof. The. shipper lever171isprovided on each side with theproftuberance 22 and the outer face23 of the protuberance, 'that'is, the'face ofthe protuberanceaway from theaxis of. the pawl, forms :a pawl-retaining surface, which co-operates withjthe incline'surface 19on the'pawl toretain the pawlin its inoperative position, as .shown in connection witlrthe pawl 12 inFig. i1. LThepawl-engagingface 23 inclines from the apex 22 of theprotu'beranceina direction toward the longitudinal median "line of the shipper. V

The .protuberances 22 on. the shipperlever havesuch relation Zto.the surfaces 19,12O and apices 21.0f the pawls that when the shipper .is .in, one extreme ,position as shownin Fig.

1 the protuberance 22 .on onerside o'fvthe shipper lever will be on the socket ,side of the apex 21.of the. corresponding .pawl while theprotuberance;22-on 'the othersi'de of said l-lever will be on thepivot side of. the. apex 21 of the correspondingpawl and thesurface 19 of thelatter pawl will be engaged by the V corresponding pawl-retaining surface 23' of the shipper lever.

One .pawl, ,therefore, will. be po'sitively'held out :of,. engagement with the socket member by the corresponding pawl-retaining. surface .23 of the shipperlever while the other pawl will'be .freeto bemoved into operative vposition in: engagement with the. socket member byitsspringfl'G. As the shipper is moved theractive pawl (which in .Fig. l is the pawl 11) and by such engagement the pawl will be thrown ba'ckwardly into. an inoperative p0- sition :out of engagement with the socket member. ?During this swinging vmovement of the shipper lever the pawl-retainingsure-' h ch ieinenee e e t i b ei 123 will slide over the surface: 19. of the pawl =.while=.at ithesame time retaining the pawl in its inoperative "position.

When the shipper lever reaches the central-position shown in Fig. 4 both pawls are held out of engagement with the socket memher and as the shipper lever 1s swung from the central position .to. the other. extremepo- .sition illustrated by dotted. linesfFig. 1 the pawl 12- will be allowedto moveintoengagement with thesocket member while the pawl 1.1.willlbe held out of engagement bycthe pawl retaining surface 23' corresponding which is moving into engagement with the surface19 of the. pawl. 11. v

From what has been said above it will be shipper lever'from one extreme'positionto theotherthe .active pawl will .be thrown out of engagement with the socket member while theinactive memberwill be retained. in.'its

inoperative .position Land during the final movementIof the shipper lever thepreviously inactive pawl will be allowed ,to moveinto operative position while the otherpawl is held inf-its inoperative position. 'There is,

therefore, never=any .opportunity for the socketmemberto become locked to. the wrench handle by reasonof both pawls being in. en- .gagement with the socketmemberat thesame time. It .wilLalso be noted that when the shipper .17 isv in .either. extreme position one pawl-engaging face v23 lies flatlyagainstthe shipper-engaging face 19. of the corresponding pawl. When either pawl .is retracted the spring 16.0f therretractedpawl is compressed pawl maintains the faces 19 and 23 firmly in engagement :and by reason .of this fact each :pawl when retracted actstoholdthe shipper inone oflits extreme positions and .it isnec- :essary to'apply-some force to the shipper-to I .start swinging, from its initial position toward its central position. This isian advanstage because when -:the-shi-pper is in either extreme position said shipper will be yield- '-'ducing very greatly the danger thatthe shipper be-accidentally moved into its 'centralpos'ition. Moreover, when the shipper is in. the 'central position showninLFig. 4, it 'is-in an unstable condition, and will 'not retain this position as at this time the apices ofthe protuberances are in, engagement with the pointed .high .points of the .pawlsand since ;&tc-thlS time there .is .only a. point toseen that during the initial :movement ofthe .9 l

"and the4,pressure-..of ;the spring against the 11 ingly held in such extreme position thus 'recomes on each tooth 10 is in a direction toward the base of the tooth.

The wrench head is provided with a removable cover plate 24: which overlies and covers the pawls 11 and 12 and shipper lever 17 the end of the shipper lever projecting beyond the cover plate to permit it to be operated. In Fig. 1 the cover plate is removed but the dotted line 25 indicates the outer edge of said plate. This cover plate is retained in position by a screw 26 which is screw threaded into the aperture 27 formed in the boss 18. The cover plate is formed on its inner face with two ribs 28 which engage the portions 29 of the socket-receiving opening in the head and it is also provided with another rib 30 which is situated between the edge 31 of the shipper member and the neck of the socket. These ribs 28 and 30 assist in holding the cover plate in position and serve to take the strain oif from the screw 26.

When the wrench is being used the neck portion of the socket member is likely to engage the convexly-curved wall 32 of the cover plate with a force tending to displace the cover plate. Without the presence of the ribs 28 and 30 such force will be resisted only by the retaining screw 26 but with the construction herein shown this force is resisted by the ribs 28 and 30 and thus the screw 26 is relieved from any undue strain.

I claim:

1. A ratchet wrench comprising a handle having a head, a toothed socket member rotatively mounted in said head, a pair of opposed spring-pressed pawls pivoted in the head and adapted to engage the toothed portion of the socket member, each pawl having on its inner face a shipper-engaging surface which inclines forwardly from the pivotedend of the pawl and outwardly with relation to the longitudinal axis of the pawl, said shipper-engaging surface terminating in a high portion, a shipper member pivoted between the pawls and having on each side a protuberance, the face of each protuberance that is on the opposite side of the apex of the protuberance from the pivotal axis of the shipper lever constituting a pawl-retaining surface and inclining from said apex toward the longitudinal axis of the shipper in one direction and the surface on the other side of relation to the pivotal point of the pawls and the protuberances on the shipper having such relation to the high portions of the pawls that when the shipper is in central position the apices of the two protuberances engage the high portions of both pawls and thus hold both pawls in inoperative position out of engagement with the socket member while when the shipper is in either extreme position one pawl-retaining surface thereon lies flatly against the shipper-engaging surface of the corresponding pawl and holds it in inoperative position while the'other pawl is permitted to assume an operative position in engagement with said socket member.

2. A ratchet wrench comprising-a head, a toothed socket member rotatably mounted in said head, a pair of opposed springpressed pawls pivotally mounted in the head and adapted to engage the toothed portion of the socket member, each pawl having on its inner face the two inclined surfaces 19, 20 which meet in the high portion 21, the inclined surface 19 constituting a shipper-engaging surface and inclining forwardly from the pivoted end of the pawl and outwardly with'rel'ation to the longitudinal axis of the pawl and the inclined surface 20 inclining forwardly from the high portion and inwardly with relation to the longitudinal axis of the pawl, a shipper member pivoted between the pawls and having on each side a protuberance 22, the face 23 of 7 operative engagement with the socket memher, while when theshipper is in either extreme position the pawl-engaging face of one protuberance lies flatly against the shipperengaging face of the corresponding pawl and holds it in inoperative position while the other pawl is free to assume an operative position under the influence of its spring.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

JOHN H. DODGE. 

